Bhp Rises 6.6% to $53.72 as Mining Shares Outrun ASX 200
bhp shares rose 6.6% in April and closed at $53.72 a share on 30 April. The move beat the S&P/ASX 200 Index, which gained 2.2% over the month, and it also topped Rio Tinto while Fortescue went the other way.
For holders of large Australian mining names, April was a relative-strength month rather than a broad sector rally. BHP’s gain came as iron ore prices held in a US$106 to US$108 per tonne range and copper prices added 5% to US$12,987 per tonne.
BHP at $53.72
6.6% was BHP’s monthly rise from 31 March to 30 April, a finish that left the stock at $53.72. That outpaced Rio Tinto’s 3.7% gain to $167.40 a share and contrasted with Fortescue’s 3.3% decline to $19.65.
2.2% was the ASX 200’s monthly advance, so BHP’s April run was stronger than the benchmark as well as its largest listed peers in the same resource group. If the reader’s question is which of the three had the best month, the numbers point to BHP.
Iron Ore and Copper
US$106 to US$108 per tonne was the range for iron ore prices in April, a narrow band that kept the commodity near the levels that supported the group’s monthly trading. Copper added 5% and ended at US$12,987 per tonne, giving BHP a second price tailwind.
1.2% was the rise in BHP’s share price on the day after it announced a 2% year-on-year increase in iron ore production for the nine months to 31 March. The company reported 197 million tonnes of iron ore production in that period, while copper production fell 3% year on year to 1.46 million tonnes.
BHP’s April Update
US$5.47 per pound was BHP’s average realised copper price, up 31% year on year, which helped offset the weaker copper production figure. That split leaves investors with a simple read-through: output was softer in copper, but pricing was far better than a year earlier.
31 March was the cut-off for BHP’s nine-month production period, and the company’s April update gave the market fresh numbers to weigh against the month’s commodity backdrop. For readers tracking the miners, the practical takeaway is that BHP entered May with a stronger April share-price run than Rio Tinto and a cleaner result than Fortescue, while the next move will be shaped by whether commodity prices hold and whether the production trend improves further.
